To make the tomato salad, whisk the lemon juice and oil in a medium bowl. Add the tomatoes, basil, oregano, and rosemary and toss. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and let stand at room temperature, stirring occasionally, while preparing the chicken.

Place the chicken breasts between sheets of plastic wrap or waxed paper. Using a heavy mallet or rolling pin, pound the meaty part of each cutlet until about 1/2-inch thick. Season the cutlets with salt and pepper

Place the matzo flour in a shallow dish, the egg mixture in a second shallow dish, and the Passover Panko or matzo meal mixed with the matzo farfale in a third shallow dish. Coat each cutlet with the matzo flour, then the egg wash, and then the Panko or matzo meal.

Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the cutlets and cook, turning once, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Place the browned cutlets on a large baking sheet. Bake until they feel firm when pressed in the centers, 5 to 8 minutes.

Just before serving, add the arugula to the tomato salad and mix. For each serving, place a cutlet on a dinner plate, and heap the tomato salad on top. Serve immediately, with a wedge of lemon.

Those of you who’ve read this pages before know I am very partial to cooking with wine. When I came across this recipe in the 2009 edition Food & Wine: Quick From Scratch Chicken Cookbook, I knew I found an easy to prepare, delicious, dish which I slightly adapted to make it kosher:

Photo by: Melanie Acevedo, on page 86

Chicken with Wine & Tarragon

Yields: 4

Ingredients

3 tablespoons dry wine

2 teaspoons dry tarragon

3 – 3 1/2 pound chicken quartered

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt

black pepper

1 tablespoon margarine, cut into 4 pieces

1/4 cup water

Directions

Heat the oven to 375 F. In a small glass or stainless steel bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the wine and 1/e teaspoon of the tarragon. Set aside

Coat the chicken with the olive oil and arrange the pieces, skin-side up, in a large roasting pan. Sprinkle the chicken pieces with the remaining 1 tablespoon wine and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Top each piece of chicken with a piece of margarine.

Cook the chicken for 15 minutes and then sprinkle the remaining 1 1/4 teaspoons tarragon. Baste the chicken and cook until the breasts are just done, about 20 minutes longer. Remove the breasts and cook the legs until done, about 5 minutes longer. Remove the roasting pan from the oven, return the breasts to the pan.

Heat the broiler. Baste the chicken and then broil until the skin is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate.

Pour off the fat from the roasting pan. Set the pan over moderate heat and add the reserved wine and tarragon mixture and the water. Bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pan to dislodge any brown bits. Boil until reduced to approximately 3 tablespoons, about 3 minutes. Add any accumulated juices from the chicken and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Spoon the sauce over the chicken.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy! I plan to make it this evening and I know I will enjoy it.

Reyna Simnegar‘s Persian Food from The Non-Persian Bride is a beautifully produced book, with many a mouthwatering recipe. The accompanying text is well written regaling us with tidbits of Persian and Sephardic tradition, the photography with its generally darkish background lures us into wanting to discover more of its mystical, delectable promises.

Many of the recipes also have variations, to accommodate every taste and every cook’s level of comfort. The Appetizers and Side Dishes section is subdivided into Persian Breads, Dips and Salads; Fish and Soups follows, then come Poultry and Meat, Persian Stews and Sephardic Shabbat Stews. A long section on Persian Rice is next, followed by Dairy food, Egg Dishes and Persian Snacks subdivided into Persian Breakfast and Persian Snacks, Persian Beverages and Desserts comes next.

After the recipes comes a section on Persian Holiday Tutorial, it briefly explains various holiday traditions and suggest traditional Persian menus. This section end with The Laws of Tarof – And Other Persian Peculiarities I Happen to Love, written with humor and obvious deep love for her newly acquired customs. The book ends with a Glossary and a Culinary Glossary. Advanced or beginning cooks, this cookbook has something for everyone!

I always liked the diminutive Cornish hens, one of my favorite delicacies. Here Mrs. Simnegar takes a recipe and dresses it up in Persian trappings:

Stuffed Cornish Hens With Rose Petals

This dish doesn’t really exist in Persian cuisine, but you it totally sounds Persian! Even Persians will think it comes from an ancient Persian cookbook! In fact, I got this recipe from the book Like Water from Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel, but I reinvented it with a Persian flair. The rose petals look stunning next to the poultry, but I use them only for garnish. If you want to eat them you need edible roses, which come free of pesticides and you must also the check the petals for bugs — way too much work for me!

4 Cornish hens or 2 whole chickens or 2 cut up chickens

Marinade

2 garlic cloves, pressed or 2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon cardamon

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

Stuffing (optional)

3 tablespoons canola oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed or 2 teaspoons garlic powder

1/4 cup dried barberries (optional)

1/4 cup currant raisins or regular black raisins

2 tablespoons lime juice

pinch saffron powder

1 cup leftover rice

1 teaspoon salt

Rose Petal Sauce

1 cup pan juices

1/2 cup rose jam or quince jam

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 lemon, juiced or 1 teaspoon lemon concentrate

Garnish

Fresh Rose petals (from about 2 roses)

1/4 cup slivered pistachios

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F

Combine all marinade ingredients and rub all sides of the Cornish hens. Place into a dish and marinate for 2 hours, overnight, or not at all.

Meanwhile, make the stuffing. In a small saucepan, saute the oil, onion, garlic, barberries, raisins, slivered almonds, lime juice, and saffrons for 1 minute. Mix in the rice and remove from heat. Check seasoning and add 1/2 teaspoon salt if necessary. Stuff the poultry; there is no need to sew the cavities.

Bake, uncovered, for 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is no longer pink and an instant-read thermometer reads 160 F when inserted in the thickest part of the thigh. If the hens still look pale, put under broiler for 5 minutes or until desired color is reached.

Mix all ingredients for the rose petal sauce and drizzle over the hens. Garnish with fresh rose petals and slivered pistachios.

Yield: 4 to 8 servings, depending on the size of the hens.

Tomorrow evening at 8:00pm, (Eastern Time) Reyna Simnegar will be the guest on our BlogTalkRadio.com show. We will discuss her cookbook, how she adapted to her new culture and a lot more. In case you missed it, last week we had an interesting conversation with Rukhl Schaechter, the news editor of the Yiddish Forverts. You can catch the archived show right here.

Having tried this recipe I felt we’d be doing our readers a disservice if we didn’t post it here. What a treat this is! Looks good, tastes good, and the preparations includes a dramatic phoenix moment..

Adapted from Mmmm… Casseroles:

Chicken in Riesling

Serves 4-6

2 lbs all-purpose flour

1 chicken, weighing 3lb 8oz cut into eight pieces 0r 8 chicken thighs

4 tbsp unsalted margarine

1 tbsp sunflower oil

4 shallots, finely chopped

12 mushrooms sliced

2 tbsp brandy

2 cups Riesling Wine

1 cup of MimicCreme

salt and pepper

1 chopped fresh flat leaf parsley, to serve

Season the flour with salt and pepper to taste and taste the chicken pieces in it to coat. Shake off any excess

Melt half the margarine with the oil in a large flameproof casserole over medium-high heat. Add the chicken pieces, in batches and cook, turning frequently, until browned all over. Remove from the casserole and set aside.

Pour off all the fat and wipe the casseroles clean with paper towels. Melt the remaining margarine in the casserole, add the shallots and mushrooms, and sauté, stirring constantly for 3 minutes. Return the chicken to the casserole and remove from the heat.

Warm the brandy in a small saucepan, ignite and pour it over the chicken to flambé. When the flame dies down, return to the heat, pour in the wine and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 40-45 minutes, until the chicken is tender and the juices run clear when a skewer is inserted into the thickest part of the meat. Transfer the chiocken to a serving platter and keep warm.

Skim the fat from the surface of the cooking liquid. Stir in the MimicCreme, then bring to a boil and reduce by half. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon the sauce over the chicken pieces and sprinkle with parsley. Serve while hot.

Colman’s Mustard was first manufactured in the UK in 1814 by Jeremiah Colman. In 1866, Her Majesty Queen Victoria granted the company its Royal Warrant as manufacturers of mustard to Queen Victoria. Today, Colman’s is still used by the British Royal household.

Colman’s is tangier than the bland American mustard (I’m not American born, gentle reader, and since my youngest days in Uruguay we’ve had access to fine European food products and yes… we like’m spicy!). Recently I came across Colman’s (their hechsher is from the London Beth Din) at a local supermarket, here in Brooklyn; I picked up both their regular Mustard and the Double Superfine Powder Mustard.

As you can see, the bottle on the left got quite a bit of use...

SYR used the mustard in one of her delicious chicken recipes:

SYR’s Orange, Honey, Mustard Chicken

Ingredients

4 filets chicken breast trimmed (approximately 2 lbs.)

Marinade

½ cup honey

½ cup orange juice

4 tablespoon. olive oil

2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

¼ cup Coleman’s mustard

½ tablespoon fresh rosemary

1 clove garlic – minced

½ teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Delicious is an understatement!

Directions

Marinade Prep

Whisk together all ingredients. Store approximately 5 tablespoons of marinade in second baggy. Add breasts and put in plastic zip-lock bag with remaining marinade. Refrigerate for 2 hours or more (more flavorful when marinated overnight).

For us Jews every day is a day we thank Hashem for both the open and hidden miracles, those we know of and those we may never find out about, that sustain us every day. Yet, we live in the US where there is an official holiday specifically dedicated to the giving of thanks. Some Jews celebrated this day, because it is an official American festivity, others do not because they feel one must equally thank the Almighty every day – even every moment – of one’s existence, rather than once a year on a specific day.

It may be a bit late to start cooking the turkey for this evening, but this is a delicious recipe that can be made at any time, whether for Shabbos, whether for a holy day, or any festive occasion. Lévana in her class, two Mondays ago, featured the following:

Ingredients:

1 cup white wine

1 cup maple syrup

2/3 cup Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons ground pepper

6 cups water

1 12-14 pound turkey, frozen OK, at room temperature

4 mackintosh apples, unpeeled, diced

8 thin parsnips, or 4 larger ones, diced

2 large heads fennel, cut into thin wedges

¼ cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

3 sprigs sage, leaves only, chopped coarsely

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Mix the wine, maple syrup, mustard, pepper and water in a bowl. Place the turkey breast side down in a (real) baking dish, and pour the mixture over it. Cover the pan loosely with foil, and bake 2 ½ hours. Turn the turkey over, breast side up. Bake uncovered 1 more hour, or a little longer, until the juices of the turkey run clear and the skin looks a nice golden color. Transfer the turkey to a cutting board, and let it rest a few minutes before slicing. Transfer all but 1 cup of the liquid to a saucepan, and reduce them on a high flame until it thickens to the consistency of maple syrup: this is your gravy. You will end up with about 3 cups of gravy. Meanwhile, raise the temperature to 475 degrees. Add the second set of ingredients. Give a good mix to the veggies, and roast about 25 minutes, or a little longer, until very tender and roasted.

Slice the turkey, and place in a platter, with the roasted vegetables all around, and pour the gravy over the turkey and vegetables.

I cooked up a storm this season since we’ve had lots of guests at meals meal during the Holy Days. These can, however, be made and enjoyed at any time and they’ll be perfect no matter what the occasion!

Scatter sesame seeds onto a plate. Sread a thick layer of chicken mixture over bread pieces. Press spread side into seeds making an even covering.

Heat 1/2 oil in a skillet until hot. Quickly fry triangles for 2-3 minutes on both sides. turning once until golden browned. Drain toasts on paper towels.

Toast may be prepared in advance. Store in refrigerator for 3 days or frozen up to a month. Thaw overninght in refrigerator. Reheat in hot oven for 5 minutes.

Roasted Summer Vegetables

(Adapted from The Big Book of One Pot)

Serves 4

Photo from: The Big Book of One Pot

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 fennel bulb, cut into wedges

2 red onions, cut into wedges

2 beefsteak tomatoes, cut into wedges

1 eggplant, thickly sliced

2 zucchini, thickly sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into chunks

1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into chunks

1 orange bell pepper, seeded and cut into chunks

4 garlic cloves

4 fresh rosemary sprigs

ground black pepper

crusty bread, to serve

Directions

Brush an ovenproof dish with a little oil. Arrange the fennel, onions, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini and bell peppers in the dish and tuck the garlic cloves and rosemary sprigs among them.Drizzle with the remaining oil and season to taste with pepper.

Roast the vegetables in a preheated oven at 400 F, for 10 minutes. Turn the vegetables over, return the dish to the oven and roast for another 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and beginning to turn golden brown.

Serve the vegetables straight from the dish or transfer to a warm serving platter. Serve immediately, with crusty bread to soak up the juices.

(Adapted from: The Big Book of One Pot.When I made this dish I tripled it, as we had 11 people at the particular meal).

My guests were very pleased with the above dishes, I hope you will enjoy as well.

It looks too traif to be true, but Geila Hocherman and co-author Arthur Boehm have really pulled it off with their new cookbook Kosher Revolution. Inside you’ll find the most exciting new recipes adapted from the finest in worldwide haute cusine, photographed by the extraordinary Antonis Achilleous. Geila and her genius ability to exchange un-kosher ingredients with kosher ones while still fundamentally maintaining the look, texture and – never to be confirmed – taste, of its original counterparts are more than praiseworthy, yet the outstanding photography makes your mouth water with possibility.

Delicious recipes, superb photography

Geila’s gifts, mastery of taste chemistry and ingenious ingredient substitution, broaden the breadth and spectrum of cooking kosher. Her very elegant presentation is more than worthy of a cordon bleu Chef. Anthonis Achilleous‘ extraordinary talent for lighting, color, texture and capturing the most tantalizing angles of his composition, clearly illustrate that he is at the top of his art form among the best food photographers out there. Geila’s not a snooty chef either, if there is a way to save time or make a recipe user friendly, she does so.You’ll find her palate of adaptable ingredients refreshing and versatile as she looks to give an expansive kick in the pants to the sometimes mundane nearsightedness of traditional Jewish cooking.

“Duck Prosciutto

serves 4

When people challenge me to “make trayf safe,” they usually mention ham. This breakthrough recipe began with that dare—and my realization that what makes ham taste like itself has less to do with the meat than its cure. My quest for kosher prosciutto—nothing less!—led me first to smoked turkey leg, which is hammy all right, but hardly like the Italian specialty. I went to work, and, happily, scored a triple bull’s-eye by giving duck breast a really easy salt cure—just fifteen minutes of prep followed by a “set-it-and-forget-it” refrigerator stay. The resulting “prosciutto” is so much like the real thing, but with a special character all its own, you’ll be amazed. I pair this with grilled figs (page 26), a traditional prosciutto accompaniment, but that’s just the beginning. Try it wrapped around asparagus spears or, diced and sautéed, as a salad garnish.

Geila’s Tips

To achieve paper-thin slices, I use an inexpensive electric slicer, a great kitchen investment. The very ends of the cured breast over-dry. Save them to put in soup. If you can’t find the Moulard breast, place two regular breasts together and cure as one.

One 6- or 8-ounce package of muscovy duck breast

4 cups kosher salt

½ teaspoon ground coriander

½ teaspoon ground fennel

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup white wine vinegar

Over a burner flame, singe away any remaining pinfeathers from the breast. Rinse the breast and dry it with paper towels.

On a dish just large enough to hold the breast, make a 1-inch bed of the salt. Place the breast on the salt and cover it with another inch of salt. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours.

In a small bowl, combine the coriander, fennel, and pepper. Holding the breast over the sink, rinse it with the vinegar (to remove the salt), and then under cold running water. Dry the breast and rub it all over with the spice mixture. Wrap the breast in cheesecloth and knot it at both ends. Using sturdy household tape (duct tape works well), attach one end of the cheesecloth to the top of the refrigerator interior, or hang the breast from a high refrigerator shelf, and let it cure until the breast feels firm but not dry, about 2 weeks. Start checking after a week. Thinner or smaller breasts will take less time.

Using an electric slicer or a sharp carving knife, slice the breast paper thin or as thinly as possible. Place 3 melon slices on serving plates, drape with the prosciutto, and serve.”

Especially now around holiday time, go grab your own Kosher Revolution, hit the supermarket for some of the recommended stock items for your pantry and start putting some magic into your dishes. Once you get the hang of the revolutionary ingredient exchanges, Geila so deliciously demonstrates, nothing will prevent your launching your own kosher revolution.

This recipe is a delicious meal all by itself and it’s made in one pot, there is less cleaning and it’s an easier dinner to prepare. What could be more satisfying than the delicious aromas of healthy cooking wafting through the kitchen, especially when it’s all done with little effort? There are many versions of this dish; last eve some Moroccan friends, visiting from Israel, came over and this is the variation I made.

Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic and cook for three minutes, stir frequently.

Add the chicken and cook, stirring constantly, for an additional 5 minutes. until all sides are seared.

Add the cumin and the cinnamon sticks after the first 2 1/2 minutes.

Sprinkle in the flour, stir constantly, for another 2 minutes.

Add the zucchini, the bell peeper and mushrooms. Cook for an additional 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Blend the tomato paste with the chicken broth, stir into pan, bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and add the chickpeas, apricots, prunes, and dates. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until chicken is tender.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with chopped cilantro or parsley (I used cilantro) and serve immediately.

We paired it with with a WillmGewurztraminer 2008. With fresh flowers and citrus on the nose, flavors of pineapple, honeydew, lychee and apple with lots of honey on the finish. This is a dry white but with a subtle hint of sweetness on the tongue, elegant rather than big and bold, it is clean, refreshing and with just enough acidity to accentuate the sweetness of the dish. A marriage made in heaven!

[Bourbon Chicken is a flavorful chicken dish named for the bourbon whiskey ingredient. The dish is commonly found at Cajun, Chinese, and American BBQ themed restaurants. The various recipes includes soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and bourbon in the base, and the chicken is marinated in this sauce.]

Yesterday we cooked with red wine, today we’ll use bourbon. This is a superb chicken recipe from Food.com!

Photo from Food.com, by: Caroline Cooks

Bourbon Chicken

Ingredients

olive oil

4 chicken breasts, chopped into chunks

1 red pepper, sliced thinly (about 200g)

1 carrot, cut into sticks

0.55 lbs. broccoli florets

2 green onions, sliced thinly

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 teaspoon ginger, grated

1/2-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (add to your personal taste.)

1/3 cup apple juice (just over a 1/4 cup)

1/2 cup bourbon (when I use bourbon for cooking, just as when I use wine, I prefer a quality bourbon, something I would normally like to drink, like Blanton’s or Maker’s Mark)

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon cornflour

Directions

Heat a little oil in a pan, cook chicken in batches, until browned all over, set chicken to one side.

Heat a little more oil in the same pan, add pepper, garlic and ginger, cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring.